The Burton Cotton Gin

Listed on both the National Register of Historic Landmarks and as a National Society of Mechanical Engineers Landmark, The Burton Cotton Gin in Burton Texas represents a turn of the century change in methods of cotton ginning from intensive hand labor to a mechanical system. This ginning system, developed by Robert Munger, a native of Fayetville Texas, represents a totally integrated system in which air and mechanically powered belts, pulleys, and conveyors moved the cotton from the wagon, through the system and out the other end as a 500 pound bail of ginned cotton.

The Gin is powered by a single steam engine, which was replaced in 1925 by a Bessemer steam which was called the “The Lady B.” During the 1963 ginning season, the Lady B threw a piston rod and was replaced by an Allis Chalmers electric motor which ran until 1974 which was the gin’s final season.

In its’ heyday, the Burton Cotton Gin was capable of processing 4000 pounds of cotton an hour which resulted in 7 500 pound bales an hour. In its’ final season, the Burton Cotton Gin produced a total of 7 bails, finally proving that “King Cotton” had been replaced by King Cattle, at least in that part of Texas.



We spent the day in Burton, Texas Saturday April 22 spinning at the yearly folk life festival which celebrates the history of the Burton Gin and portrays a variety of folk life activities as the gin is run and produces a bail of cotton.

We got to see all of the steps of processing and ginning, from sucking the cotton bolls up out of the wagon with a giant vacuum tube, to mashing the ginned cotton into the bale, wrapping the bale in burlap and strapping it. During the process, the tin building shuddered and vibrated, shot drafts of cotton lint and chaff out of a second story window and shot puffs of kerosene and diesel scented exhaust through exhaust pipes about 50 yards away from the building. Volunteers were available to explain each step of the process and to keep curious visitors away from dangerous pulleys and floors which opened up to drop the bales.

We also learned that according to the volunteers who run the gin once a year for this festival, that one 500 bale of cotton can produce the following;
1217 men’s t shirts or
30 pairs of men’s jeans or
964 Men’s dress shirts or
896 women's blouses or
542 women’s shirts or
782 terry bath set or
210 sheets

It was a fun day and there were several other spinners besides Phil and I plus knitters, crocheters and about half a dozen weavers, plus a carver, a potter, a quiller, and butter churning in the folk life tent with the quilting bee for a quilt to be raffled off with proceeds going to the gin, music from dulcimer and gospel singers to hard rock. The crowds were steady, curious, talkative and very friendly interested in what we were doing and why. This festival is obviously a big event for this small town and it is apparent from the love and enthusiasm of the festival volunteers that the Burton Cotton Gin represents a very real segment of their history and of the Texas textile history that they are determined to keep alive.